Care for the cerebrovascular accident survivors: experiences of family caregivers.

BACKGROUND: The role of family caregivers in the management of cerebrovascular accident survivors is invaluable. So far, there is a strong evidence affirming the effectiveness of family support for cerebrovascular accident survivors. Meanwhile, caring for cerebrovascular survivors can be labour and time intensive and pretty stressful for caregivers. The purpose of the study was to examine the lived experiences of family caregivers of cerebrovascular accident survivors in the Ho Municipality in the Volta Region of Ghana. This aims are to establish their caregivers' knowledge, preparedness, and impact of caregiving on the caregiver, and coping strategies caregivers adopted. METHODS: Using a four-item (with 14 prompts) interview guide and descriptive phenomenological approach, we gathered and analysed data from 37 family caregivers in the Ho Municipality of Ghana. RESULTS: We found that caregivers had limited knowledge about cerebrovascular disease-risk factors and were ill-prepared for their caregiving roles. Additionally, we found limited knowledge about coping strategies among the caregivers. We further report that some caregivers lost close relationships, and their jobs because of the caregiving, they also used fasting and prayer as coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers suffered broken relationship, loss their jobs and incomes due to their caregiving roles. Moreover, some engaged in fasting and prayers, and alcohol use to cope with the stress associated with caring for the cerebrovascular accident survivors. We discussed the potential implications of our findings on the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4. The aim of this goal is to reduce by 75% premature deaths due to cerebrovascular and other non-communicable diseases by 2030.

Public health concerns for food contamination in Ghana: A scoping review.

Nutrition is sturdily and rapidly becoming the foremost determinant of health in today's Sars-Cov-2 and climate change ravaged world. While safe food sustains life, contamination obliterates its values and could result in death and short to long term morbidity. The purpose of this scoping review is to explore food contamination in Ghana, between 2001-2022. Using Arksey and O'Malley's procedure, a systematic literature search from PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, Scopus, Emeralds Insight, Google Scholar, and Google was carried out. Following the inclusion criteria, 40 published and grey literature were covered in this review. The review revealed the following: Studies on food contamination involving Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, and Eastern Regions alone account for over 50% of the total number of such studies conducted in Ghana; regulators failed in enforcing regulations, monitoring and supervision; managers failed to provide adequate infrastructure and facilities. The most common food safety risks of public health concern are: i) micro-organisms (E. coli/faecal coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp, Bacillus cereus, and Viral hepatitis); ii) drugs (Amoxicillin, Chlortetracycline, Ciprofloxacin, Danofloxacin, and Doxycycline) and; iii) chemicals (Chlorpyrifos). Salad, vegetables, sliced mango, meat pie, and snail khebab are of high public health risks. The following deductions were made from the review: Highly contaminated food results in death, short to long term morbidity, economic loss, and threatens to displace Ghana's efforts at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2. Thus, Government must resource key regulatory bodies to enhance their operational capacity, regulators must foster collaboration in monitoring and supervision of food vendors, and managers of food service outlets must provide adequate facilities to engender food safety culture.

Impact of Sars-Cov-2 on access to healthcare by person with disabilities.

The Sars-Cov-2 pandemic has ravaged societies at their very core and deepened pre-existing inequalities. Meanwhile, persons with disabilities (PwDs), the most oppressed group in Ghana that live in poor and deplorable conditions are most like to be negatively impacted by the Sars-Cov-2 crisis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic is influencing access to healthcare by PwDs in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis (STM). We collected data from 17 participants, nine from the Ghana Blind Union (GBU), five from Ghana Society for the Physically Challenged (GSPC), and three from the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD). An interview guide containing 25 items was used to gather data from the participants and we employed Phenomenological Analysis (PA) approach in making sense of the data. PWDs encounter many different barriers like; i) stigma and discrimination, ii) cost and availability of transport, iii) poor attitude of healthcare staff, iv) poor communication, v) hospital environment and equipment, vi) handwashing and sanitizing facilities, vii) unsuitable washrooms, viii) cost of healthcare, ix) registration and renewal of NHIS cards, and x) loss of income as they attempt to seek healthcare during this Covid-19 era in the STM. Covid-19 pandemic has widened the disproportionate and inequality gaps against PWDs in the STM when they attempt to seek healthcare. in the face of this, STM may lead Ghana to lag in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.8, which entreats nations to provide quality healthcare for all persons including PWDs. PWDs need education and empowerment to enable them demand for their rights when accessing healthcare. The findings highlight existing gaps in the implementation of the disability law by healthcare facilities in STM and, re-focus the attention of hospital managers in STM to the healthcare needs of PWDs in STM.